by Joe
on August 14, 2009
In my first Frugal Friday post three months back, I suggested the first step to take in you path to being frugal is a budgeting tip as well, namely, track all your spending, every cent. Now, a fellow blogger Chloe at Naturally Frugal asks her readers to take the challenge, and perhaps meet some like minded people in the process to share their experience. If you come back looking for the link in a few weeks, it has been added to my sidebar, left, below. Join Chloe’s challenge and let me know how you’re doing on it.
On another note – Today, the guest post I submitted to Moolanomy on the topic of Estate Taxes and the Right Way to Own Insurance was approved for publication. Take a look, it’s a good read and a way to maximize your heir’s inheritance. Do it wrong and it can cost you.
Enjoy the weekend. While I’m still answering at Moolanomy Answers, if you have any topics you’d like to see discussed in depth, a full article, let me know. Always looking for new ideas.
Joe
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by Joe
on August 12, 2009
This past March, I wrote an article titled ETF’ed, in which I discuss an inverse EFT, one supposed to rise when the index it tracks, falls. I observed how for RTN, the double inverse ETF tracking the financial spider, in a time when the underlying index fell 50%, the etf was barely up 10%, far worse than simply shorting the XLF itself, and certainly nowhere need twice its inverse.
Now it seems others have jumped on the bandwagon. Financial Planning magazine reports Class-Action Suit Filed Against ProShares Leveraged ETF. The suit cites a spectacular tracking error. ProShares UltraShort Real Estate seeks to deliver twice the opposite of the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index.Last year, the index fell 39%, whereas the fund fell 48%. Spectacular indeed. Buyer beware.
Note – Most ETFs do not suffer from such wide tracking errors. SPY has an expense ratio of .09% ($9 per $1000 invested, compared to $100+ for a managed mutual fund.) and aside from this expense, virtually zero tracking error. Look at the details of the ETF you intend to buy, and compare it to its underlying index, and decide if it’s right for you.
Joe
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by Joe
on August 11, 2009
Today I am proud to have a guest post over at Jeff Rose’ Good Financial Cents. Jeff and I had become acquainted through Twitter and after reading his posts Gone Daddy Gone – AGI Restriction For Roth IRA Conversion and Roth IRA Time To Convert, I offered to write a Roth post from a different angle.
This post fits well in my own writings as a follow up to Loving That Roth and More Roth Lovin’. Take a visit to Jeff’s blog, and let him know Joe sent you.
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First, Wise Bread has been keeping an updated list of Top 100+ Personal Financial Blogs. It’s now up to 241 and growing, and yours truly is currently number 71, sorted by Alexa Rank. One feauture I really like is the built-in list of last post for each blogger, so if I have a few minutes, I can find a quick interesting post without scanning a full RSS reader.
Time to offer a congrats to Mrs Micah who celebrated her second blogiversary this week. (Coincidently mine was Aug 4, but I’m not so blog sentimental. I had to look it up.) If you take a visit, check out the Archives, she’s done a great job of varying topics sometimes a bit more personal, sometimes on life matters that are about the heart, not money. I may be twice her age, but I still find I can both learn and be inspired when I read her posts.
Saving For Serenity guest hosted It’s Magic! Why Index Funds Come Out Above Average Every Time. Quite true. I learned this from a pamphlet written by Jack Bogle in the 80’s. It’s great to see new investors discover this fact and learn to beat the averages.
Written last month but I just discovered – Pay off Credit Cards VS Build Emergency Fund Savings – Me VS Suze Orman by Matt Jabs. It’s great to see that Suze took enough interst to reply to Matt and clarify what his wife heard regarding this decision. An interesting read.
On My Life ROI is a post To Prepay Your Mortgage or Not? I don’t want to ruin the punchline, but let me just say, I agree with the author’s conclusion.
I am still offering answers to your questions at Moolanomy answers, stop by, have a beer, and ask. A number of financially savy people are ready to answer the tough ones. Please, no homework assignments, ok?
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